commenting

     Having used the Young Writers Project for part of the 2009-10 school year, I already knew how important it was for students to feel safe and comfortable giving and receiving constructive feedback from their peers.  I decided to hold off on talking about and setting the standard for commenting on each other's blog posts until we had a few pieces of writing (per student) saved.  As a classroom, we then spoke extensively about supporting one another with positive comments about each other's writing.  I modeled this verbally on a few volunteer's blog posts and quickly had other students wanting to chime in as well.  It was great to see how my students were picking out great things about their peer's writing to mention and give praise for.